


So If You’re Asking Me, I Want You To Know

by pocketmumbles (livelikejack)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, Epistolary, F/F, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 03:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3712489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livelikejack/pseuds/pocketmumbles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She laughs a little. “You know, I saw a falling star today. And I know, I know, they’re just chunks of rock burning up in our atmosphere, but…people used to make wishes on them, you know.” She looks down with a faint smile. “Some still do. And I know most of those meteoroids just burn up into nothing, but – some of them make it through. Some stars fall home, and…” She takes a breath, sniffs heavily. “And this one could, too.”</p><p> </p><p>  <em>(Or, the space AU where Allison travels into space on a years-long mission, Lydia stays on Earth, and the two try to reconcile their relationship through a series of video transmissions.)</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	So If You’re Asking Me, I Want You To Know

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [dapatty](http://dapatty.tumblr.com/)'s amazing fanedit for the Allydia Reverse Bang. A huge thank you to mackiejackson and alan713ch for betaing! All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Please take all science things with a huge grain of salt. I’m kind of basing the space stuff on a more Star Trek approach anyway, prioritizing philosophy and storytelling over technical accuracy.
> 
> This is a complete AU, but in terms of canon dynamics, this fic is written from a post-3B perspective and includes characters from all four seasons.
> 
> Fic title is a line from [“Leave Out All The Rest” by Linkin Park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZIummTz9mM). This fic was inspired by that music video, the 2007 film Sunshine, Wong Fu Productions’ short [A World Away](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3UWiOReMtU), and, of course, Star Trek.

 

* * *

  

The video switches on abruptly, revealing a pale face framed by dark hair pulled back tight behind her head. Her eyebrows shoot up before she settles into a slightly stiff pose. “Void Mission, Day Forty-Seven. Captain Allison Argent speaking.

“We have now traveled beyond the range for live communications with Beacon; I discussed it in more detail in my Captain’s log.” She sighs, slumping a little. “I know we all expected the communications to cut out, but I wish it hadn’t happened so soon. I miss talking to you already, Lydia.”

Lights dim, casting a pale blue glow on her face. She leans closer. “I know we didn’t leave on the best of terms. I know…” She chews her lip, eyes cast down. “I know you didn’t want to talk about it, I know, I – but.

“I have to do this, Lydia. I…I _want_ to. I know it’s dangerous, and I know I’m going to be gone for a long time, but…but this is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life.” Her eyes light up, voice pitching faster. “Exploring new worlds, discovering new life, boldly going where no one has gone before!” She catches her breath and sits back in her seat. “And I know you hate space, Lydia, and I know you don’t…”

She rubs her forehead. “This is all coming out wrong. I – Lydia, I love you, I’ll always love you. But I had to do this. I know you don’t understand, but I have to.”

A long pause. She sits taut in her seat, eyes focused somewhere beyond the screen. “I love you, Lydia. I-” She blinks, swallows. “I love you.”

Her hand reaches forward, presses something below the screen. The screen goes dark.

 

 

 _“Beacon Academy, Day Sixty-Six of Void Mission. Lieutenant Lydia Martin speaking.” She sits down in the chair, tucking a lock of red hair behind one ear as the glow from a different screen fades from her face. She looks down at the screen and purses her lips. “I’m still mad at you, Allison. No, not_ mad _…” She looks up, sighs heavily. “Frustrated. I’m – I know it’s not fair. I shouldn’t have asked you to choose between us or the stars._

_“But three years is a long time, Allison. It’s only been two months and I can’t even talk to you face-to-face anymore. …I guess I’m lucky that I still get to see your face at all. A few centuries ago, all we’d be lucky to get were letters.” She smiles, but the corners curve down. “I miss you. I miss you already. I’d be lying if I said this was easy.”_

_She sits back. “Things are going well here at the Academy. The new class graduated today, and we’ve got some new people at work. Cora’d love bossing them around.” She rolls her eyes. “Actually, she’d probably hate them, who’m I kidding. She’d eat Liam for breakfast. I think you’ll like him when you meet him, though. He’s stubborn, just like you. It’s a good thing Stiles transferred to Alpha Station with Scott, otherwise he’d terrorize the hell out of the ensigns.” She rolls her eyes. “Derek already does enough of that. I think he’s a just a little grumpier because he misses…” She trails off. “Well. You know.”_

_She hesitates, breath going still as she stares at the screen. “I love you. I didn’t say that enough before, Allison, but I love you. I always have.” She smiles, blinking back bright eyes. “And I always will._

_“Lydia Martin signing off.”_  

 

 

“Void Mission, Day One-Hundred-And-Four. Captain Allison Argent speaking. I know we’re not scheduled to send a data burst, but Lieutenant Mahealani found a window to send one out, and-” Her smile fades, face falling a little. She takes a breath. “I…miss you, Lydia.”

She swallows. “I knew it would be hard, not being able to talk to you directly, not seeing you every day, I knew it…but I didn’t…” She blinks, choking out a frantic little laugh. “It’s harder than I thought it’d be. It’s harder…we’re all struggling more than we expected.”

She presses a hand to her forehead. “It’s crazy, because – we’ve all been on missions before, months at a time – Commander Whittemore went on a twenty-four-month mission as a lieutenant, even – but…this is different. No communications back to Beacon, no link to Earth, no one in front of us to even find, just us and the black and nothing…” Her eyes abruptly flick up to the screen. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, that’s not what this was supposed to be about.”

She takes a deep breath, only sniffing a little. “There isn’t much time for the window, and Lieutenant Mahealani’s not entirely sure it’ll work, so the crew asked me to record the message for all of you.” The corner of her mouth quirks. “We’re all doing well. Der – Commander Hale – will be happy to hear that Ensign Hale’s been doing wonderfully as our navigator. Hasn’t steered Lieutenant Reyes into the middle of an asteroid like he thought she would, so take that, Derek.” She grins cheerfully. “The twins have been doing well, too – the new ensigns, remember them, Lydia? Lahey’s been keeping them busy in Engineering, says Aiden has a couple funny stories from working with you. Kinda funny hearing them from the other side. And Dr. Boyd-”

Her smile fades a little. “He’s been a little busier than we thought,” she says finally. “No one’s ill, just…well, all those hours he spent in his psych rotation are really paying off. He’ll be sending a report in our official transmission next week.

“…That’s kind of why the crew asked me to send this, instead of us all taking turns,” she says. “Everyone has someone they want to talk to back home, see their face again, but…” She gestures at the screen. “It gets a little crazy just talking to yourself like this, and hoping it’ll make it through a few weeks later.”

The light from another screen illuminates her screen, and she taps the console. “Communications is ready,” she mutters, more to herself than for the video. She looks up at the screen. “We all miss you,” she says. “Our mission’s far from over, but we’re all thinking of you.

“Argent out.” The screen goes black.

 

 

_“Beacon Academy, Day One-Twenty-Seven of Void Mission. Lieutenant Lydia Martin speaking.” She hesitates, sighing at the screen. “I’m sorry we couldn’t send this along sooner, it took a while to get messages from everyone, and finding a window, and…” She sighs again. “Well, it took a while. There should be a data file for each crewmember, I checked through them all to make sure they’d make it through.”_

_She sits back. “Scott helped me put all the data files together,” she says, voice hesitant. “And we thought – I mean, Kira didn’t share the details of Boyd’s report with me, doctor-patient confidentiality, of course – but we thought everyone on the ship should get a personal message, so…I made the one for Aiden.” Her mouth twists. “I thought you’d want to know. Oh, and Scott made Ethan’s. It was the best we could do on a short notice. Everyone else’s is more specific with family, or close friends, but…”_

_She sighs, tucking an errant strand of hair back into the braid piled high on her head. “I know that I got mad at you because you chose to lead the mission when I…when I didn’t want you to do that. I was upset because I didn’t want you to leave. But I’m still here for you, okay? I’m still going to support you, and I know how important this is for you. Just as important as my work here at Beacon’s main base is for me. So if it’s harder for you than you thought it’d be, then talk to me about it. You don’t have to be strong all the time._

_“I mean, I miss you a_ lot _, you know?” Her voice cracks; she swallows quickly and continues. “Some days I wake up in the morning and I expect you to be right there drooling on the pillow next to me, and then you’re not, and it’s just like when you left all over again. Sometimes I get worried that the transmissions will fail and I won’t be able to hear from you again, or…” She trails off, eyes glazing over. Then she shakes herself and looks back at the screen. “And I talk to Kira about it, and Scott, and Stiles, and I tell_ you _, and I know it’s not the same thing as have a real conversation, but…I want you to feel like you can talk to me about it.”_

 _She drops her head. “Maybe I don’t deserve it.” She presses her lips together, gaze still fixed on her lap. “I shouldn’t have shut you out before you left. I shouldn’t – I should’ve been there when you left. I should’ve been there with everyone else, I should’ve been there to kiss you goodbye, and I stayed away because I was still so_ mad _at you, and I didn’t think…” She sighs. “If it’s not me you want to talk to, that’s fine. I’ll ask Scott, or Kira, or Stiles, or – anyone you feel like you can talk to, anyone you want. I just – I just want you to be okay, Allison. Okay? You don’t have to be strong all on your own. We’re all here for you.” Her lip quirks. “Even if we’re not_ there _._

 _“I love you, Allison. Remember that, okay? I understand if you don’t…but I love you. I’ve always loved you. I’ll_ always _love you._

_“Lydia Martin, signing off.”_

 

 

The video turns on slowly, revealing a pale face framed by dark hair falling to her shoulders in loose waves. “Lydia.” She coughs, then presses her lips together while her cheeks dimple in a smile, eyes sparkling and bright. “Void Mission, Day, uh,” she says in a voice trembling with laughter. She reaches up; another screen illuminates her face briefly. “One-Forty-One. Captain Allison Argent speaking.” She stares at the screen for a long moment, face flushed, then drops her head forward with a giggle.

She looks back up, catching her breath. “Okay, okay. We, uh.” Distant laughter echoes through an open door, and a broad smile stretches across her face. “We got your messages. Lydia.”

She blinks rapidly. “ _Lydia_. Thank you – you’re amazing. They’re perfect. Scott set up those gag interviews, didn’t he? The crew’s been playing them nonstop; Boyd actually fell out of his chair laughing when we got to his. _Boyd_ , Lydia. They really…they’re exactly what we needed.” She trails off, smiling down at her lap. “You’ve always been so great at that – knowing what people really need instead of just what they think they want. Especially me.”

Her smile fades a little. “You’ve always known me even better than I do, Lydia,” she says. “I…I was angry at you for so long, I was – I felt so _hurt_ that you wouldn’t see me off, that I didn’t get to see you one last time and say goodbye. But now…” She stares at the screen, gaze unfocused. “Now I think that…if you’d been there, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to. I don’t…I truly don’t know if I would’ve been able to say goodbye. I think I needed you to do that for me, deep down, and I think you knew that.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you, Lydia. Thank you for everything that you’ve done and everything that you are and…” She shrugs, eyebrows lifting helplessly. “You’ve always been there for me. Always. And I – I love you so much, Lydia, I.” She sighs. “I wish I could just reach through the screen and hold you again, just for a moment. I’ve never been good at words; you were always the better one when it came to that.”

She laughs, clapping a hand over her face with a groan. “Oh great, now I’m just thinking of that debate class at the Academy, back when we first met. You kicked my ass every _week_. I hated it so much, I was so humiliated. I was just _so_ determined to beat you, just once, and then the last debate of the semester I finally won and the _look_ on your face!” She leans back in the chair, eyes scrunching with laughter. “I’ll always remember that, Lydia, you were just so stunned.

“And then you asked me out the very next day,” she continues, face softening. “I’ll always remember that, too. That crappy coffee place on campus. You got a soy latte, I got a cappuccino, and we split a white chocolate brownie.” She laughs. “The coffee was terrible, but that was a good brownie. And then you decided that that wasn’t going to be our first date, and we were going to go somewhere better for our ‘official’ first date.” She holds up her fingers in quotation marks. “So then I came up with the idea to sneak onto the Communications roof for a picnic, and we ended up spending half the night hiding from the security guards instead.”

She smiles, gaze sliding away from the screen. “We used to do that a lot, even after we graduated – sneaking up onto the Communications roof to look at the stars. No telescopes, no calculations, just…just marveling at the beauty of space. The artistry of the universe.” She laughs. “Making wishes on falling stars. Or, well, I did, anyway. I know, I know, they’re just chunks of rock burning up in our atmosphere, but…they’re still beautiful.

“We’re all made from stardust, you know. I know you say it’s silly, but whenever I see a shooting star, it feels like…” She ducks her head with a smile. “It’s like part of us coming back home.

“I will come back, Lydia. I promise.”

 

 

_The video turns on slowly, revealing a pale face framed by limp tendrils of red hair. “Allison.” She coughs, then presses her lips together while her cheeks tremble, eyes bright and wet. “Beacon Academy, Day, uh,” she says in a voice choked with tears. She reaches up; another screen illuminates her faces briefly. “One-Eighty-Seven of the Void Mission. L – Lieutenant Lydia Martin speaking.” She stares at the screen for a long moment, face red, then squeezes her eyes shut with a sharp inhale._

_“We’ve lost all contact with the Arrowhead. None of the transmissions are getting through on either side. We…” She presses a hand to her mouth, tugs it away. “Our last readings indicated some sort of…signal disruption. Everything else seemed to be functioning, there’s no reason to believe the mission isn’t proceeding as planned. I’m just a little-” She shakes her head, pastes on a wobbly smile. “We haven’t been able to reestablish contact for fourteen days._

_“I’m scared.” She presses her lips together with a nod, eyes wide and gleaming with fresh tears. Her voice quavers. “Okay? I’m scared. I’m scared something will happen to you and I won’t know, I’m scared something’s already happened to you and I don’t know, I’m scared…I’m just scared.”_

_She looks down as she blinks rapidly, taking a deep breath before looking back up to the screen. “I hope the mission’s going well, and I hope you come back soon. And I hope…” She swallows. “I hope you’re all safe. We are all…we’re all thinking of you.”_

_She laughs a little. “You know, I saw a falling star today. And I know, I know, they’re just chunks of rock burning up in our atmosphere, but…people used to make wishes on them, you know.” She looks down with a faint smile. “Some still do. And I know most of those meteoroids just burn up into nothing, but – some of them make it through. Some stars fall home, and…” She takes a breath, sniffs heavily. “And this one could, too._

_“I’m going to get communications back up. I’m going to get us back into contact with you.” She reaches forward, smiles faintly. The corners of her eyes gleam in the screen’s eerie light. “We’re going to make it through this, Allison. I promise.”_

 

 

“Void Mission, Day Two-Hundred-And-Five. Captain Allison Argent speaking.” She stares blankly at the screen for a long moment. “We…missed Beacon’s last transmission.

“Actually, we haven’t heard from Beacon in fourteen days. Lieutenant Mahealani and myself are the only ones who know so far; it seems to be some sort of malfunction, no need to alarm the crew.” She pauses, staring bleakly at the screen. “Yet.”

She takes a breath. “We’re not sure if this recording will reach Beacon. But…in case it does…we’re here. We’re fine. We’re continuing the mission as planned.

“I know you’re doing everything you can on your end to get back into contact with us. But-” She pauses, glancing around the dark room. “Lydia, you know Danny. He’s one of the best there is, and he won’t admit it, but he’s stumped. If he can’t fix it…then there’s probably something irreparable on our end.

“Everything else is fully functional. We’re all safe. I’ve checked over everything on this ship with Lahey and Whittemore, and everything else is fine. …Everything except communications.” She pauses. “So it could be a while before we hear from each other again.

“I hope this gets to you. I hope you know that we’re all doing fine. When this mission was planned, we were never sure how long communications would hold, and we’ve gone too far to turn back now.”

She pauses again, then nods. “I hope you hear from us soon. Allison Argent, signing off.”

 

 

_The video switches on abruptly, revealing a red-haired woman and brown-haired man fiddling with wires and arguing in front of the screen. “-isn’t gonna work, Stiles.” She glances at the screen and sighs in exasperation. “Why’d you turn it on?”_

_The man peers at the screen. “Oops. Well, now we know it works, right?”_

_She rolls her eyes. “This place is a mess. I can’t believe you work like this.”_

_“Well, I don’t really use this station very much; the main one’s got enough range for Earth communications.” He waves his hands around and ducks under the table. His voice continues, muffled. “And, y’know, if no one’s using this room then there’s no point filtering in oxygen, so then there’s even less reason to come by and clean it. Space dust isn’t really an issue if the room’s sealed.”_

_She rolls her eyes. “Braeden would tear you a new asshole if she saw the state of this thing, you know. Demote you all the way back to cadet.”_

_“And that’s why I stay up here on the Alpha. Just to keep far, far away from Earth’s dumb bureaucracy.”_

_“And because of the zero-g.”_

_“And because of the zero-g.” He stands up again, reappearing on the screen. “It’s so much fun, Lydia. You gotta play zero-g lacrosse before you go back down. Just one game. I promise you it’ll change your life.”_

_“Reestablishing contact with the Arrowhead would change my life a whole lot more,” she responds, voice tight. She reconnects a wire and sits back with a sigh. “Thanks for helping me get set up here. I just don’t think Earth’s range can reach them anymore, and…”_

_“You’ll find them again,” he says with a confident nod. “And I know it’s not my specialty, but anytime you want me to help, just let me know. I already told Mason that he is unofficially your intern-slash-assistant for as long as you’re here.”_

_She cracks a grin. “Communications isn’t his specialty, either.”_

_“Well, we don’t have a ton of interns up here.”_

_“Ensigns.”_

_“Semantics.” He chuckles, then his grin slowly fades. “You know, Lydia, Hale could be really useful at-”_

_“No.” She shakes her head immediately. “He stays on Earth unless we absolutely need him. His sister’s on the Arrowhead, he mentored almost half of the Arrowhead’s crew; it could make him emotionally compromised.”_

_His eyebrows raise, skeptic. “And you’re not?”_

_She hesitates, nails drumming on the console. “Danny and I graduated together, top of our class, always could count on each other to pull through on our projects. I know he’s on the Arrowhead right now, counting on me to pull through for him.” She stands. “I won’t let myself get emotionally compromised.”_

_He nods, but his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Well, let me introduce you to the rest of the science geeks up here.” He claps her on the back and steers her off screen. “You remember Malia?”_

_The door shuts. A few seconds pass, then it opens again. The man strides quickly across the room, leaning down to fill the screen with his face. “She’s gonna find you, Allison,” he says, then reaches down and types into the console._

_The screen goes dark._

 

 

The screen lights up, revealing a pale face flushed pink. She leans forward as a smile spreads across her face. “Void Mission, Day Two-Forty-Nine. Captain Allison Argent speaking. I – wow.”

She takes a breath, running a hand through her dark hair. A lock tumbles free from her bun and flops over one eye. She brushes it away quickly. “I discussed it in much further, _calmer_ detail in my Captain’s log, and Commander Whittemore’s compiled his own report, but we-” She pauses again, chest heaving. “We are currently orbiting a planet.”

 _“We’re on a planet!”_ a distant voice screeches from offscreen. _“We have entered a new solar system!_ I have parked our ship where no man has parked before! _”_

Allison turns away from the screen with a laugh. “Damn right, Erica!” she calls. She turns back to the screen. “It’s officially listed with Beacon as Planet 3B-2348, but Comman-” She breaks off with a grin. “Jackson wants to come up with a name for it, since he’s the first person from Earth to set foot on it. So far, though we’re just calling it 3B for short.”

She sits back, sighing happily. “It’s amazing. Jackson’s gone down with multiple teams, and Boyd’s positive they’ve all come back unharmed.” She leans in towards the screen. “We’ve been in 3B’s orbit for nearly three weeks, and everyone’s gone down to the surface at least once.

“Well, except me.” She shrugs. “Someone’s gotta stay in charge of the ship, you know. But Isaac’s taken so many videos, so – and even just looking from the observation deck, I mean.

“I mean, you remember the first time we went up to Alpha and got to see Earth from space. Or on our ensign mission when we got to see Jupiter and Saturn for the first time. Seeing 3B from space is…it’s like that, but just, just _so much more_ , because it’s – it’s here where no one’s traveled before, like an oasis in the desert, you know? And just knowing that we’re the first people to get to see this view, just the nine of us out of the entire human race…”

She sits back. “It’s such a rush. The first time we all gathered together on the observation deck to look at it, Boyd said – he turned to us and said, ‘It was worth it.’ And we all – that’s exactly how we all feel. Everything we’ve gone through to get here, it’s all been worth it to be able to see this planet, to just experience this feeling. It’s…” Her eyes shine with wonder. “Lydia, it’s beautiful. It’s so beautiful. I wish you could-”

Red lights flash across her face; an alarm begins to wail. Her mouth shuts, head turning up and away from the screen. She stands, and her hand reaches to the side of the screen. “What’s-”

The screen goes dark.

 

 

_“Okay.” The screen abruptly switches on, and wide hazel eyes blink at the screen before moving back. She sits down behind the console and brushes back her loosely-tied red hair. “Alpha Station, Day Two-Forty-Nine of Void Mission, Lieutenant Lydia Martin speaking._

_“And our broadcast is now…” She reaches forward and flicks a switch on the console. “…Live. Yeah, the range is definitely better up here.” She nods to herself as she peers above and to the side of the screen. “Maybe I should come up here more often when this is all over, this is actually a really nice setup. And – you’re not going to believe this, Allison, but Stiles is actually way calmer up here. I don’t know if it’s the zero-g or because of Malia – we met her once, Allison, during your promotion to Lieutenant Commander. Remember her? She’s an engineer, and she’s actually helped me a lot up here.” The corner of her mouth quirks, but her eyes remain downcast. “Everyone has, really._

_“I know they don’t expect anything to come of this. It’s…accidents happ-” Her voice tightens into silence. “But that’s not what happened here, okay? It’s not like what happened with-” She freezes, chest heaving as her eyes unfocus. She shakes herself. “I know it isn’t. We can’t get communications through to you right now, and that’s all. And communications is my expertise, so I’m going to fix that.” She sits back, staring at the console with her jaw set. She nods. “I’m going to fix that.”_

_A brief hiss of static cuts through the room. Her eyes widen, and she jolts upright. “Allison?” She hurriedly jams on a headset. Her hands fly to the console below the screen, tapping and twisting. “This is Alpha Station, do you copy? Alpha Station to Arrowhead, do you read? Alpha Station to Arrowhead. …Hello?”_

_She sits back slowly, gaze returning to the screen. “Allison,” she says voice hoarse. “I know I heard you. I know you’re out there.” She nods, eyes bright, jaw set. “I know you’re still there._

_“And I’m going to find you.”_

_Her hand taps the console. The screen goes dark._

 

 

A dry click. Static. A deep breath. “Captain Allison Argent speaking. Void Mission, Day Two-Hundred-Fifty-Six.” Another breath. “We’ve landed on Planet 3B-2348. Life support on the Arrowhead has failed, and I made the decision for the crew to stay on the planet’s surface until we can repair it.” A pause. “ _If_ we can repair it.”

A breath. “Communications between the Arrowhead and our shuttlecraft are intact, so I will be relaying regular audio transmissions to be stored in the ship’s data files. Lieutenant Mahealani set up a broadcast on all channels before we left the ship, so if there’s anyone in range, hopefully they’ll pick up on it.

“Planet 3B-2348 is viable, with an atmosphere similar to Earth’s. Commander Whittemore is confident that we will be able to survive here. And…” A sigh. “The bigger question is whether we’ll be able to repair the Arrowhead and return home.”

Another, longer pause. “I will report on more updates tomorrow. Allison Argent, signing off.”

Static. Silence.

 

 

_The video switches on to reveal a faint line of light on the far side, and shifting darkness on the rest of the video. “Uh oh,” a voice says, then the darkness pulls away to reveal the back of a Beacon uniform._

_“What did you do?” another voice asks, and a young dark-skinned man pushes the back out of frame and squints at the screen. “Oh, great. You turned it on.”_

_“Hey, you said sit still and don’t touch anything, and that’s what I did!”_

_“I didn’t mean sit on the_ console _, Liam, jeez.” He peers into the screen and types on the console. “Stilinski’s gonna kill me if I ruin Professor Martin’s project.”_

_“Well, why’s she stuck with this dingy old setup, anyway?” The sandy-haired young man glances around the room, nose wrinkled. “Back on Earth, Commander Braeden put her with the best tech we had-”_

_“-developed by Professors Martin and Mahealani themselves, I know, Liam.” He rolls his eyes, then points off screen. “Check out the label in the corner.”_

_The other man wanders back into frame. “Mahea – oh. Oh,_ whoa. _” He spins. “Whoa, this – Mason, is this-”_

_“Danny Mahealani’s legendary senior project. Simultaneously aced him the class and got him arrested.” He nods. “It’s brilliant, but it’s a freaking migraine for anyone except him to use. It’ll have a better chance of picking up whatever he’s doing on the Arrowhead, though.”_

_“Oh. I never knew this is where it ended up.” A pale elbow drops into frame. “Hey, after Professor Martin finds the Arrowhead, you gotta talk to Stilinski so I can play with this sometime.”_

_He pauses, turning slowly to face the other man. “You really think she’s gonna find them?”_

_“Of course. Come on, Mason, have you_ met _her?” The sandy-haired man pauses. “You don’t believe she really heard anything, do you.”_

_He shrugs, jerky and uncomfortable. “I don’t know what to believe. No one does.”_

_The soft hiss of a door opening sounds from out of frame. “What’s the holdup?” a new voice asks. “I’m all for helping topple the McCall/Stilinski/Tate zero-g crown, but I do need the rest of my team for that to happen, guys.”_

_“Liam butt-dialed deep space. I’m trying to figure out how to hang up.” The dark-skinned man taps a button and squints at the screen, then sighs. “Okay, I give up. You have any idea, Kira?”_

_The new voice sighs, then a dark-haired woman ducks down into the screen’s view. “Dammit, Mason, I’m a doctor, not a computer engineer. I don’t know how Danny’s stuff works, I only met him…” She trails off. “Actually, did we ever officially meet? Well, there was that time at the gym, but…” She shrugs. “I’ll go get Lieutenant Tate.”_

_“Or Professor Martin,” the sandy-haired man suggests._

_The other two blink at him. “Yeah, so I’ll go get Malia,” the woman says, and walks out of frame. A muffled thud echoes. “Oh, hi, Lydia!”_

_A red-haired woman steps into frame, closely followed by the dark-haired woman. “Is something wrong?”_

_“We can’t figure out how to turn it off,” the dark-skinned man says, shoulder hunching in sheepishly. “I thought I’d followed Lieutenant Tate’s directions, but-”_

_“Malia never worked with Danny.” The corner of her mouth quirks in a grin. “I’ll take it from here, guys. Go kick some zero-g lacrosse butt.”_

_The men walk out of frame. “It won’t take you too long, will it, Lydia?” the dark-haired woman asks. She shrugs jerkily. “’Cause, I mean, the more people who witness the abject humiliation of Scott, Stiles, and Malia, the longer I can gloat about it up here_ and _back down on Earth.”_

_“I’ll be there in a few minutes, Kira.” She smiles gently, and the dark-haired woman steps out of frame. The door hisses shut._

_She sits down heavily, brushing a stray tendril of red hair out of her face as she taps at the console. She looks up at the screen and sighs. “I know. I know what you’re thinking, Allison. I know…_

_“I know I’m not even really talking to you right now.” She blinks rapidly, eyes suddenly bright. “I know they think that I’m just hearing things, I’m hearing voices in my head, but I know what I heard. I know-” Her voice trembles. “I_ know _I heard you. I know you’re alive. I know it.”_

_Her gaze trails to the side, face eerily pale in the glow of the screen, voice falling to a whisper. “I know I heard you, Allison. I know I did. I’m,” She swallows hard, lips trembling. “I don’t care if no one else believes me, I’m going to find you, Allison. I promise. I – I’m going to find you again.”_

_A distant voice calls behind her. She turns, sniffing a little. “I’ll be there in a sec, Liam!” She turns back to the screen, leans in close. The glow casts a sallow light on her skin, darkens the shadows beneath her eyes. “I will find you. I promise.” She reaches forward, and her hand covers the screen in darkness._

 

 

“Day Sixty planetside. Lieutenant Lahey broke his ankle while exploring the valley with Ensign Hale, but Doctor Boyd assures me he’ll make a full recovery.”

A voice interrupts, lower and somewhat petulant. “It was just a sprain, jeez, I’m fine.”

“Boyd’s scanner says it’s a hairline fracture, Isaac, it’s more than a sprain.” The voice mutes a little, further away from the microphone. “Stop trying to hobble around, you’re just going to hurt yourself.”

“Well, your mission logs are boring.” Shuffling, then loud, crinkly static. “Hey, can I talk into this?”

“Stop messing with the mic. Danny’ll be pissed if he has to rewire this.”

“Fine, fine.” The crinkling stops. The other voice sounds closer, too loud. “This is Lieutenant Isaac Lahey speaking, over.”

“No point saying ‘over,’ Isaac, there’s no one on the other end of this. And it’s not like this is an official mission log, either.”

“Then why do you keep doing them?”

A long pause, interrupted only by faint breathing. “Because I have to believe that we’re not alone out here.”

Another pause. The faint scratching of nails over stone. “I’ll go back up to the Arrowhead as soon as Boyd gives me the all-clear, but…I can’t fix the ship, Allison, I told you.”

“I know. Life support won’t last long enough to take us home.”

A pause. “I’ll go back up with the twins. See what we can do. Maybe we can patch it up enough to get one of us home.”

A sigh, the shifting of cloth and faint creak of boots. “Get some rest, Lieutenant. I’ll bring you dinner when the twins come back from hunting.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Footsteps fade away. A heavy sigh, tapping of fingers on plastic. Fumbling static. Silence.

 

 

_“De-Void Mission, Day One, Lieutenant Lydia Martin speaking.” She wets her lips, glancing at the pale walls surrounding her. “I…am…in space.” She shakes her head with a faint laugh. “I mean, I know I’ve spent years on the Alpha Station, but that’s just orbiting Earth. That was within our solar system_ _. This is…” She looks up at the screen, eyebrows raised in a helpless smile. “It’s amazing, Allison. Amazing, and…terrifying. It’s so dark, it’s…”_

_She looks around again. She gets up from the chair and walks to a window several paces away, pressing her hand against the glass. “I can see why you love it out here,” she says softly, just barely picked up by the microphone. “It’s danger, it’s adventure, it’s the entire universe at your fingertips.” She trails her hand down the glass. “It’s beautiful.”_

_A young man walks into frame and stands next to her at the window. “How are you doing?”_

_She starts, then turns with a faint smile. “Better.”_

_“Even with being in space?”_

_She snorts and swats him lightly. “I don’t_ hate _space, Scott.”_

_“Yeah, okay.”_

_“No, really. It’s not all that bad.” She smiles faintly. “It’s actually…now that I’m here, I kind of never want to leave. It’s…I get it now, you know?”_

_He nods. “Yeah. I get that.”_

_They stare out the window in silence. She speaks again. “I wanted to thank you for putting this together, Scott. I…thank you for believing me.”_

_“Hey, I’ll always believe you.” He squeezes her shoulder. “Besides, you’re the best Communications Officer I know. If you say you heard something, then you heard something.” His comm beeps, and he steps back. “I need to get back to the bridge; Braeden and Liam have new coordinates. You gonna be okay?”_

_“Yeah.” She nods, gestures at the screen. “I just have to finish up some things and then I’ll be up there.”_

_“Okay.” He walks away, then turns. “We’re going to find them, Lydia.”_

_She nods. “Aye, Captain.”_

_He walks out of frame, and his footsteps quickly fade away. She steps towards the screen and sits down in the chair, staring down at her lap. She takes a deep breath. Looks up at the screen. Opens her mouth, closes it, then shakes her head and reaches forward._

_The screen goes dark._

 

 

“Day One-Hundred planetside. Cap…Allison Argent speaking.” A long pause, followed by a heavy sigh. “The Arrowhead is unsuitable for traveling out of this star system and back through the Void. We…are going to be spending the rest of our lives on this planet. We’re…” A shaky breath. “We’re never going to see our families again. I just-” Her voice wobbles, choked with tears. “I just want everyone to know that we’re okay. We didn’t die terribly, or in pain, or…this planet is wonderful, actually, it’s…” A sad sort of huff. “It’s a nice place to spend the rest of your life.”

A sniff. “I hope everyone can find some closure. We all knew the risks when we signed up for this mission, and in a way, we succeeded. We’ve ventured further than anyone has before, and we discovered a new planet in an uncharted system. We just…” A laugh. “We just didn’t end up having a return trip.”

“I think what I want the most – what my wish is, I guess.” A pause. “I can only hope that, one day, another mission goes into the Void, just far enough to communicate with the Arrowhead. Isaac reworked the ship’s system, we put all of our power into boosting the signal as far as it can go – and I hope someone from…” A faint laugh. “From home. I hope someone can find that signal one day and bring it back to you. So then you can all hear our stories, and see what we’ve seen, and know that…it was worth it.

“It was worth it, Lydia. All of it. Every part of my life that led me to you, and every part that led me to the Void Mission – it was all worth it. I don’t regret any of it.”

A long pause. “There will be…more messages, in the next few weeks. From the rest of the crew. Jackson Whittemore. Erica Reyes. Vernon Boyd. Cora Hale. Aiden and Ethan. Danny Mahealani. Isaac Lahey. They…we…this isn’t how we expected to say goodbye, but. We have to.”

A short breath crackles through the static. “You know, I saw a falling star today. It was – it was…I just…that’s something I never thought I’d see…away from Earth. And, um. It – it reminded me of, well, home. And you. Lydia.” A pause. “So. I guess, even out here, so far away from you, and from…everything I used to know, it’s almost comforting. Like, even here, where everything’s so different, there’s still stars, and some of them still fall home. To their home.” A longer pause. “Our home.

“This place is beautiful, Lydia. I…I actually don’t mind being grounded here, in a weird way.” A laugh, bright and secretive all at once. “It’s funny, I spent my whole life trying to get away from Earth and just go farther and farther into space, never staying long in one place, never letting gravity pull me back down, but – here, I understand why you love staying on Earth so much. It’s having a home, a world that was made to sustain you, and – it’s really beautiful, Lydia. I keep saying that, but it _is_ , and I understand that now. It’s amazing, how just a bunch of dust in space can come together and create so much life.”

A short pause. “You know, I always thought I’d die in space. The way my aunt, and my mom…it kind of runs in my family, you know. But.” A swallow. “But I actually get to spend the rest of my life on an amazing planet that I helped discover. And that’s…if this is the way it’s going to end for me, I’m okay with that.

“I love you, Lydia. I love you so much.”

The static fades slowly into silence.

 

 

 _“De-Void Mission, Day One-Fifty-Four, Lieutenant Lydia Martin speaking.” She sighs and brushes back a loose tendril of red hair from her tight bun. “I…am not sure why I’m doing this. Not_ this _, I mean,” she says quickly, waving her arms at the open room around her, “I know why I’m doing this, I know why I’m on this mission, in space, in the Void, and I know I’m going to find you. All of you.”_

_She slumps down a little in the chair. “But I’m not sure why I’m talking to myself on a little screen right now. We know that we can’t send or receive anything from the Arrowhead. We know this message is going to go nowhere after I send it. I know. I know._

_“But I…” She looks down, sighing. “I just, I guess. I guess I just have to believe that we’re not alone out here. I have to believe that you’re still here to hear this, somehow. I – I can’t stop believing that. So I can’t stop sending these to you, Allison.”_

_A door slides open with a hiss. “Oh, sorry,” a voice says, soft and faintly surprised. “I’ll come back later.”_

_“No, now’s fine.” She turns away from the screen and stands. “What’s happened?”_

_A dark-haired man steps into view, hands clasped behind his back. “You might want to be sitting down for this.”_

_“Just tell me, Derek.”_

_He takes a deep breath. “Our scanners picked up the Arrowhead. It’s orbiting a planet.”_

_“A planet?” Her hand shoots out to grip the back of her chair, knuckles white. “And?” she asks, voice strangled._

_“Stiles and Mason have only run preliminary scans, so we don’t know all the details yet. Scott’s reporting back to Beacon, and he’ll want you on the bridge as soon as you’re ready.”_

_She nods._ “And?” _she asks, stressing the word._

_He drops his head. “Life support’s off.”_

_She sways in place, leaning heavily against the chair._

_“The ship seems dead in the water, actually,” he continues. “Based on the scans, Stiles said it looks like it’s been manually shut off. And there weren’t…our scanners didn’t pick up any life forms on the ship.” He sighs heavily. “We’re still making our way through the solar system. When we’re docked, I’ll be going over with Malia and Kira to see what happened to the engines.”_

_Her eyebrows draw together. “Kira’s a doctor, not an engineer.”_

_“No life forms,” he says. “Could mean they’re not there anymore – Mason said one of the shuttlecrafts had been deployed.” He swallows. “Or it could mean…”_

_“They’re all dead,” she finishes, voice dull. She presses her lips together. “Are you going to be okay going over there?”_

_He shrugs jerkily. “I’m the engineer; I have to. And-” He swallows thickly. “I have to know, Lydia. I have to know what happened to them.”_

_“I understand.” She squeezes his shoulder. “I’ll follow you up to the bridge in a minute. Just have to shut things down here.” He nods and steps out of frame, the doors opening softly as he leaves the room._

_She stands until the doors hiss shut, then drops into the chair, shoulders shaking as she buries her face in her hands. She reaches out towards the screen blindly, and her hand fumbles on the console and falls over the camera. Quiet sniffles echo through the microphone before the video abruptly cuts out._

 

 

“Day Two-Twenty-Two planetside. Captain Allison Argent speaking. Dann – Lieutenant Mahealani’s gotten some…irregular…readings from the Arrowhead. He’ll be going up with Lieutenants Lahey and Reyes to check on the ship and make sure the broadcast is still functioning. I will be keeping this channel open so that-”

Loud, hissing static cuts through. “…That was…I don’t know what that was.” Her voice muffles, as if turned away from the mic. “I think Aiden should go up with you, too, might need the extra-”

_“Allison?”_

Allison freezes, staring wide-eyed at the radio. It crackles to life again in her hand, and the voice slices through her like a knife. _“Allison, are you there?”_

She bolts upright. “Lydia? Oh god, I – Lydia. Lydia – I.” She turns to Danny, frozen next to her with his hands hovering over the radio. “Do you – it’s not just me, right? You hear her, too?”

_“Allison, can you hear me? We’re – we’re on the Arrowhead. We found your ship. Allison – Allison, please answer if you can hear me.”_

Danny nods faintly, face slack. Allison swallows and picks up the radio with a trembling hand, speaking as steadily as she can manage. “Captain Allison Argent speaking.”

 _“Oh god.”_ A muffled sob echoes over the radio. _“Allison – I._ Allison. _”_

It’s a blur as others clamor to speak through the radio, as the static gets swallowed up in so many excited voices familiar and new to her ears. It’s a blur as she finally sets the mic down, as they gather in the clearing and watch the shuttlecraft break through the atmosphere. Her ears roar as it finally lands in front of them, Braeden just barely visible in cockpit with a sandy-haired ensign sitting next to her.

Dimly, she registers Derek leaping out of the still-lowering ramp and Cora’s strangled gasp. Dimly, she notices the Captain’s braid on Scott’s sleeve as he waves before disappearing under Isaac and Boyd. But the entire world falls away as Lydia appears on the landing ramp, hair streaming through the breeze like fire as she runs towards Allison, slams into her and crushes the breath from her lungs. She opens her mouth to speak and only manages a sob, burying her face in the crook of Lydia’s neck and breathing her in.

They finally pull back, and her throat closes all over again as she finally sees Lydia’s face, her heart-wrenching smile and eyes sparkling with tears. She can only watch as Lydia swallows, lets out a shaky breath, and wets her lips to speak. “…Hi.”

 _Hi._ The lump in her throat disappears and bursts into laughter. Lydia’s face crinkles as she joins her, shoulders shaking with helpless giggles. She presses their foreheads together, breaths puffing soft and warm across her face. Their lips meet in a kiss, gentle and yearning and rooting her all the way down through the ground.

She’s home. They’re home. This, this single moment in all of time and space is all she needs to take her home. Allison cups Lydia’s face in her hands, smiling as warm arms wind tight around her waist. “Hi.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say [hi](http://www.pocketlass.tumblr.com)!


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